Those Clichéd Thorns
by Naranne
Summary: Every rose has its thorns, as the saying goes. And as things appear to be looking up for May and Drew, is she about to discover the hidden thorn of his flawless roses? T for slight language, safety. Contestshipping, mentions of Pokeshipping.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon, nor the song which inspired this, whose lyrics are at the end for your pleasure. Of course, it is _not _a songfic. ;)

**A/N: **May and Drew are both sixteen.

* * *

I ran. My hair hung loose and flew out behind me, for once freed from its usual restraints, from yet another thing that the world associated with me, that classic, yet childish, red bandana. It lay forgotten, far behind me, trampled into the muddy ground, after being ripped from my head by my own two hands. Angry tears ran unchecked down my face, only to be snatched away by the freezing wind that whipped around my face and bit into my skin; my attire was modest, yet it offered little in the way of protection against the elements. My hands were clenched into fists at my sides; they swung methodically with each stride that I took. Angry red crescents were left in my exposed palms from where my nails had dug into my skin. An inhuman sound tore from my throat as my feet hit the wet pavement again and again, and I realised that I could not keep up this breakneck pace much longer. However, how much longer I could push my body beyond its limits mattered little to me now; all that mattered was leaving it all behind. Leaving him behind. Forgetting. Moving on. I knew I could do it. There would be several steps along my road to recovery--and the first step was putting as much distance between him and I as humanly possible. I meant that both physically and emotionally.

There would no longer be any part in my life for self-proclaimed top Pokémon coordinator Drew. The very thought of his name made me feel sick to the stomach.

My anger continued to course through my body, powering my legs, filling me with adrenaline and pushing away any other feeling so that anger was all that was left. I did not want to think about what would happen when my anger ran out. The heavens opened, soaking me. I found it hard to care; the only thoughts that were present in my mind were those of anger and revenge. I continued to run. The pavement and I became increasingly wetter as I fled the city which had, mere hours ago, been a safehaven: Petalburg City, my hometown. It was the city where I had been born. And now, in a cruel twist of fate, it was the city where the person I held most dear had been torn away from me.

The pavement ran out from under my feet as I ran out of the city's gates. Petalburg Forest, I knew, was not far. I willed myself to move faster: for the first time since my flight had begun, I was beginning to feel my strength draining as my ceaseless running took its toll upon my body. If I could only reach the forest, I knew that I would be safe. I would be able to lose him in the endless dark that was the forest at night. I snorted. As if he would be chasing after me; hadn't he already proved that I was worthless to him now? The dark trees loomed up above me. Never in my entire sixteen years of life had they been more welcoming than at that moment. Breaking through the edge of the forest, I continued running; my legs were burning up, yet the promise of rest was there on the horizon, and that was enough to keep my body pumping a little longer. My anger had not ceased, yet my body was now refusing to listen to the cries of my mind and heart that pleaded it take me further and further away. The branches tore my clothes and cut my skin, but I did not feel the pain.

Once I was satisfied that I was now too far into the forest for him to find me, I collapsed onto the ground. However, my mind gave me a sarcastic reminder of how he would not, in fact, be coming after me. I felt my bruised heart crack, and I resisted the urge to cry out of anything but anger. Channeling all my raging emotions, I balled my hand into a fist once again and was rewarded with the satisfying _thud_ sound it made when it connected with the bark of the tree I was leaning against. Sinking down again, I finally succumbed and welcomed the embrace of the comforting darkness. The last thing I saw before I sank entirely into blissful sleep was Blaziken materializing and coming to stand protectively over me.

* * *

In my dreams, I was forced to relive the moment that had forced me into my enraged flight and shattered my heart all in one savage blow.

* * *

_Blaziken walked behind me, glowing with happiness after the eating the special Pok__é__blocks that I had spent the last two hours preparing especially for it. Blaziken was, after all, the Pokémon that I had started out my journey with—when it had just been a Torchic. We were walking through the streets of my hometown, making our way back to the Pokécenter where I had been staying with my one-time rival, friend, and now, boyfriend of two months, Drew. Although we no longer gained a savage pleasure out of insulting each other as we did in our youth, before we became friends, we still considered the other our fiercest rival. However, instead of dampening our spirits whenever we lost to the other, it served only to make us strive to train harder. _

_I was itching to show off how Blaziken positively glowed, how its feathers shined, the aftereffects of my carefully prepared Pokéblock. Drew never ceased to tease me about my first disastrous attempt at making Pokéblocks, and so, I was looking forward to rubbing it in Drew's face how this time, I had inevitably prepared something that surpassed even _his_ Pokéblocks. _

_I had made it to the block before the Pokécenter when I saw them. _

_I would not have given the obviously enamored couple a second glance had I not caught a glimpse of Drew's telltale shining hair. I had never met anyone else with hair of such a striking colour that was kept in as immaculate a condition, so there was little doubt left in my mind about the identity of at least one part of that duo. _She_, on the other hand, was the dream of any teenage boy. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, with her bangs artfully curled and left to hang by her face. Her attire was not meant to be modest—her skirt barely reached her mid-thigh, and her top was extremely fitted, showing off her curves. I immediately felt ashamed of my own less-than-satisfactory curves. He was pushed up against the wall on the side of the nearest building, holding her to him with his hands on her shoulders. They were engaged in a passionate liplock, and neither seemed to notice that they had acquired a two-piece audience._

_I felt the anger boil up inside of me. A quick glance behind me told me that Blaziken's wrist flames were blazing; it was just as angry as I was at my betrayal. As I had no access to a murder weapon--here I thought hysterically that I had been spending too much time with Misty and her boyfriend Ash; her violent urges were definitely rubbing off on me—I settled for the only thing I could do, short of ordering Blaziken to incinerate the pair, as it so clearly longed to do. I screamed. The pair broke apart. I caught sight of Drew's eyes, but did not find what I sought. _

_"I _HATE _you!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. His mysterious partner in crime merely laughed at my antics, and turned Drew back to her, eager to resume their previous activities. _

_It was at that point that I turned and ran, holding out my hand behind me to return Blaziken to its Pokeball—I did not want company. _

* * *

When I awoke, scrubbing the residue of tears from my eyes with the back of a dirtied hand, I realised that Blaziken had left my side and was instead standing directly in front of me, shielding me from something. Its wrist flames were alight, and its stance showed its readiness to fight. I was instantly suspicious and cautious. My Pokémon was only like this when it was preparing to perform an attack for me, or when it was incredibly angry. I sat up slowly, feeling my body unwind itself painfully. I looked down at my body. My arms were covered with tiny scratches from the prickly ground where I had bedded down for the night, nothing that would take overly long to heal; perhaps a few hours, nothing more. However, my shirt was torn and there were a few deeper cuts on my upper arms and across my sides and back, gifts from the branches I had run through last night. My legs only ached from the exertion of yesterday's run; they were otherwise unscathed. Blaziken growled menacingly, and my attention instantly snapped away from my minor wounds to whatever had caused it to act in such a way.

I peered around Blaziken, but for a moment all I could see was a pair of legs clothed in denim. Then my eyes travelled upward, and I was greeted with the sight of the one person I did _not_ want to see. For a moment, my heart fluttered, as I realised that he had come to find me after all, before my rational side hurriedly dampened that feeling, and I decided that the sole reason he had sought me out was so that he could break up with me in a more formal manner. _Rather than just having a fling with some fangirl behind my back_, I thought, anger resurfacing. He was leaning against the tree across from me, coincidentally, I had found myself in a tiny clearing at the end of my hurried flight the night before. I supposed that it had been too dark for me to realise. He was eyeing Blaziken nervously, yet I noticed he had none of his Pokémon out to protect him in the event I should order Blaziken to attack. Either he was exceedingly arrogant and assumed I would not order my Pokémon to attack him, or this was a futile gesture of peace.

Either way, I still not pleased to see him, to say the least.

"Drew," I spat, venom and undisguised anger dripping from my voice.

"May, you're awake," Drew said, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"And you're here," I stated blandly. My eyes narrowed. "_Why?!_"

He evidently realised that I would not give him an inch more courtesy than he deserved, nor would I restrain my anger.

"It isn't what you think, May."

Ah, yes. Even when his "girlfriend" was clearly ready to order her prize Pokémon to execute its most powerful attack and send him flying, he still managed to retain his arrogant demeanour. Well, I had to admit that perhaps it was not arrogance at this moment in time, however, it was not as if he was down on his knees and begging for me to forgive him. He still had his spine. That was one of the things that I loved about him—

_No!_ I reprimanded myself silently. I would not forgive him, when he had so openly cheated on me and betrayed me.

"Explain, then," I said, standing so that I could put my hands on hips and glare down at him from my position beside Blaziken.

He seemed relieved that he was not yet fried to a crisp, and so he awkwardly began to explain, stuttering and exuding nervousness. I wondered if this was a sign that he, in fact, was sincerely sorry, and that it was not all that it had appeared to be. Drew, usually, even when faced with the toughest foe, was confident, and nothing could make him waver. Yet here he was standing before me, clearly at a loss of how to make me forgive him, and his confidence had utterly abandoned him. It was so unlike Drew that I nearly laughed.

However, he paused in the middle of explaining how he had been rushing to beat me back to our rooms in the Pokécenter when he had been ambushed by the same girl I had seen him with, and sighed.

"May, you're a mess," he said simply, eyeing me up and down.

"So?" I said, raising my hands in the air. I winced when the action caused my clothes to tug at my torn skin. I momentarily forgot the person before me as I looked down at my body again. "Ow," I muttered.

Drew evidently heard me. "Take your top off."

I gaped at him. "_What?!_"

He laughed. "I'm sorry. But May, if those cuts aren't cleaned, one's going to become infected, and then who knows where you'll be."

I sneered at him. "Drew the Medic."

"May, _please_!"

It was the fact that he had actually used the word 'please' in a conversation more than any of his previous stammered apologies that made me sit down in front of him, resolutely turn my back, and then carefully peel my tattered shirt off, pulling my knees up to my chest and balling my hands into fists in case he tried anything—a backhanded punch in the face was sure to make him back off. I was sure that he realised that if he did use the situation to his advantage, then he would never, ever, be forgiven; nor would he be in any fit state to _be _forgiven. The sound of him rummaging in his pack for the first aid kit we always kept with us when travelling could be heard, and I assumed that he had pulled out the wipes and some ointment, to clean the cuts on my back.

"I believe you were explaining," I snapped, hiding my gratitude as I felt him carefully use a wipe to clean away the dirt from around one of my minor injuries.

"It wasn't what you saw," he picked up again. "She had me pinned against the wall—"

I snorted, and he continued, "No, it's true. I know it looked like something else, but I was trying to push her away. Dammit, May, don't you realise I would _never_ do that to you?!"

Despite the anger that had entered into his tone, he was being incredibly gentle with how he brushed the ointment over my skin. I had almost forgiven him. I whirled around to face him, surprising him. "Do you actually mean that?"

"Of course I do." He smiled at me, and I felt my last shred of resistance fall away. _I hate your smile_, I thought sourly. _Always makes me crumble, dammit_.

I pretended to look thoughtful. "Can I still injure her horribly, though?"

Drew laughed, but then he turned serious. "Yes, yes you can. But first, here, change. I brought both our packs from the Pokécenter, and the rest of your Pokéballs."

"Thanks, Drew."

"No problem—go change. Then lets go satisfy your murderous urges by letting you exact revenge upon that girl." He smirked at me, and for once, I didn't mind. His smirk, after all, was as trademark as any of my habits. The day a smirk did not make its way across his face at least once was the day the sun would never rise.

I took the clothes he offered me and quickly ducked behind a tree to change. When I was done, it was to find that Blaziken had also forgiven him, and that Masquerian had found its way out of its Pokéball.

Wordlessly I handed him my torn clothes. I watched as he packed my clothes into my pack for me, before he informed me, "You'll still have to be careful though until someone else can look at them, I mean, they're not major, but I only cleaned them and with you, you never know."

I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. Then, to his surprise, I ran the short distance between us and enveloped him in a hug. My pack fell to the ground as his arms came around my waist. I buried my head in his shoulder as my arms wound around his neck. He nuzzled me, and I could feel him smile against my skin as he asked, "Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

I knew he could feel my nod as I refused to let him go. His arms were tight around me, but he was still careful not to aggravate the small injuries I had. I pulled back, but he did not release me, nor did I take my arms from their place around his neck. "You're forgiven," I whispered, as I pulled him down for a kiss. As his lips moved softly, sweetly, against mine, I knew that everything was once again right between us. He'd healed me, physically _and_ emotionally, and now the distance between us was too much.

Everything, indeed, was right with the world.

Except, of course, that small matter of revenge that was yet to be settled. I decided that I would drag Misty away from Ash long enough for her to put her violent tendencies to use and help me plan the perfect revenge for that idiotic girl. For now, however, I was content to be in Drew's arms once more.

* * *

_I'm in the business of misery, let's take it from the top  
She's got a body like an hourglass it's tickin' like a clock  
It's a matter of time before we all run out...  
When I thought he was mine, she caught him by the mouth_

_I waited eight long months, she finally set him free  
I told him I couldn't lie, he was the only one for me  
Two weeks, two weeks and we'd caught on fire  
She's got it out for me, but I wear the biggest smile_

_Whoa, I never meant to brag  
But I got him where I want him now  
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag  
To steal it all away from you now_

_  
But God does it feels so good  
'Cause I got him where I want him now  
And if you could then you know you would  
'Cause God it just feels so...  
It just feels so good_

_Second chances they don't ever matter, people never change  
Once a whore, you're nothing more, I'm sorry that'll never change  
And about forgiveness, we're both supposed to have exchanged  
I'm sorry honey, but I passed it up, now look this way!_

_Well there's a million other girls who do it just like you  
Looking as innocent as possible to get to who,  
They want and what they like, it's easy if you do it right  
Well I refuse, I refuse, I refuse!_

_-Chorus-_

_I watched his wildest dreams come true  
And not one of them involving you  
Just watch my wildest dreams come true  
Not one of them involving—_

_-Chorus-_

- Misery Business, by Paramore, 2007, which inspired this one-shot.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, there you have it. A spur of the moment one-shot inspired (as stated above) by the song Misery Business, by Paramore. Not the acoustic version, that is.

I hope you enjoyed this. My most sincere apologies if the characters are OOC, but it's kind of hard to make Drew apologetic or romantic without making him OOC. The same goes for characters like Gary, and, I suppose, any other major rival the protagonist/s have.

It is now nearly 1:30 AM, and I still want to watch an episode of Pokemon before I go to bed, so, on that note, I shall leave you. :)

- Naranne.


End file.
